GM-FOOD

i-sis: GM Crops Increase Pesticide Use

Proponents claim that GM crops substantially reduce pesticide use, but new evidence shows otherwise. Lim Li Ching reports.

A new report from Dr. Charles Benbrook, director of the Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Center, Idaho, concludes that the 550 million acres of GM corn, soybeans and cotton planted in the US since 1996 has increased pesticide use (herbicides and insecticides) by about 50 million pounds. Benbrook is a respected agricultural economist and was Executive Director of the US National Academy of Sciences Board on Agriculture from 1984 to 1990.